Wayne Chaplin, along with his company Southern Wine & Spirits of America, recently wrapped up their 12th annual "South Beach Wine & Food Festival" in Miami.
The world famous three-day gala brought in celebrities such as Martha Stewart, Guy Fieri, chef Nobu Matsuhisha and CEO of Moët Hennessy, Christophe Navarre.
Together, with 577 other festival guests, they raised $2 million for Florida International University. On the final night, 60,000 guests paid $500 per plate to eat foods prepared by world renowned chefs, according to Forbes.
Although the event had humble beginnings, starting with Chaplin's father in 1997, the event has grown drastically since 2001 and has raised a total of $18 million.
"What we're able to do is have a fabulous promotion-exposing our products, having great chefs-to a fabulous consumer base and creating a public-private venture to benefit the hospitality school at FIU," Chaplin said. "It becomes a win-win for everybody involved."
With companies such as Food & Wine, The Food Network and "The Today Show" involved, people flock from around the world to taste the extravagant foods put on display.
Although Chaplin isn't an alumnus of FIU, according to Forbes, it still remains the events' main recipient.
"Over the years, the festival has provided $2.7 million in scholarships for students who work at the event. Another $1 million helped build the 4,500-square-foot Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center, where students come from around the world to take courses in wine merchandising, enology and viticulture," Forbes said. "An additional $7.3 million paid for a new teaching restaurant, which will open this spring. And $1.2 million funded a scholar at Florida dedicated to beverage management-the only such endowed chair in the nation."
In honor of his donations, the school placed Chaplin's name on their "School of Hospitality & Tourism Management".
The president of the school, Mark Rosenberg was also ecstatic about the charity event.
"We found an incredible partner that had the reach, the vision and the investment capital to move this to another level altogether," he said. "We've been beneficiaries of that in so many ways. First and foremost, we've been able to increase-exponentially-the practical work experience for our students."
